117 Samuel Arrowsmith 1836

Aaron Arrowsmith (1750-1823), originally from Durham, carried out some of the surveys for Cary when the latter was preparing his Traveller’s Companion published in 1790. Aaron set up his own business about this time and built himself a reputation for maps of the Americas and various parts of the world, especially the South Seas. He was succeeded by his two sons, Samuel and Aaron (fl.1820-30). However, it was left to a nephew, John Arrowsmith (1790-1873), to take over the firm on Samuel’s death in 1839.

During the 1830s the Government set up a Commission to consider the state of the Established Church; also to consider the finances and report on the pay structure of the clergy. These reports were accompanied by maps. In common with most of the maps there are two counties together; in this case Devon and Cornwall as these two counties contained the four arch-deaconries in the Southwest peninsula which made up the bishopric of Exeter. The four are labelled A-D and constituted three in Devon, Barnstaple, Exeter and Totnes, with Cornwall as the fourth. Each Archdeaconry is subdivided into up to nine Deaneries. The maps constituted the Appendix to the report.

The Devon and Cornwall map is signed S Arrowsmith lithg and was the seventh in this report and came at the end of the appropriate section on page 14. Only Exeter is shown (with the Cathedral church and Bishop’s residence, see note below).

Considering the finances of the county a number of suggestions were made including that fees were to be apportioned so that the Bishop of Exeter, as head of one of the smaller Diocese, should receive more than £4000 but less than £5000 per annum. Proposition eight concerned area and suggested that the Scilly Isles come under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Exeter and the Arch-Deaconry of Cornwall.

Samuel Arrowsmith also engraved a map of England and Wales for the House of Commons published in the Accounts and Papers in 1833 and it is possible that he engraved the map of Devon and Somerset (110).

Cover title: Third Report from His Majesty’s Commissioners appointed to consider the state of The Established Church with reference to Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues. Presented by His Majesty´s Command. 1836.….(101)1